Americans ‘too busy’ for vacations

RESEARCH by Alamo Rent A Car found that 40 percent of US workers who received paid holiday as a job benefit did not use all of their available vacation days. 

When asked why they didn't use all of their days, 47 percent said they were too busy at work. 

‘Our research indicates that work increasingly remains top of mind for many people, even when they're vacationing with their families,’ said Rob Connors at Alamo Rent A Car.

The research revealed that younger American workers are finding it increasingly difficult to leave work behind, with 35 percent of millennials reporting that they work every day while on vacation.

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I’m a voter … get me out of here!

While there's still time to GoHoliday ...

ELECTION fever has hit the UK (it says here!) and people are voting with their feet and heading off on holiday. 

Postal votes might be the order of the day for many in the run-up Britain’s general election on May 7 says www.dealchecker.co.uk; voters are ditching party debates for the delights of New York, Las Vegas, Benidorm, Fuerteventura, and Turkey instead.

Greece, Cuba, Egypt, Magaluf, and Malta have also made the top ten as some of the most searched for travel destinations to take off to in early May 2015. Florida and Dubai remain popular, too.

Alice Mariscotti-Wyatt, editor at www.dealchecker.co.uk comments: ‘We noticed that many are keen to escape the politics and enjoy a holiday instead. 

Choose carefully though, if it really is the politics you are trying to avoid, because some of the most popular destinations are in the midst of their own election campaigns. Egypt is due to go to the polls in May or June 2015, and Turkey's elections are also set to take place this June.’

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‘Queuing eliminated’ Gatwick design unveiled

GATWICK AIRPORT has unveiled a design that it claims would ‘eliminate queuing’ as it looks to win the capacity growth war against Heathrow.

The design by Sir Terry Farrell has been created to make transit quicker and ensure faster aircraft turn-around times, based on introducing self-service bag drops and electronic security gates.

Go Holiday editor David Kernek comments: An airport without queues? Self-service bag drops that work?  Electronic security gates that will let law abiding passengers through and keep terrorists out? In the immortal words of St Victor Meldrew: I don’t believe it!

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Cheaper air fares? Don’t hold your breath!

Travelzoo explains the anatomy of a flight ticket and why plummeting oil prices won't immediately benefit UK consumers.

BRITAIN’S finance minister George Osborne said recently that the five year low in oil costs should be passed on to the consumer via lower flight prices, sparking much debate about potential cost reductions flight travellers can expect in the coming months. 

Travelzoo's flight Deal Experts predict that the main beneficiaries will be travellers who opt for a driving holiday either at home or on the continent and that flight prices are not likely to drop in the immediate future.

Joel Brandon-Bravo, Travelzoo's UK managing director, said: ‘Historically, low oil prices have not necessarily led to an immediate fall in flight prices. For the major airlines, we would however expect some softening of the headline price in the medium term as the fuel surcharges will inevitably fall. This will probably take around six months because the airlines have hedged positions that protect them from volatility in the fuel market, but they will now be working to unwind the hedges and take advantage of lower fuel costs.

‘It is typical of the government to point the finger of blame at the travel industry when up to half of a flight's cost is often made up of taxation and other fees airlines are obliged to pay to airports and authorities. 

The British public will no doubt be surprised to hear that many airlines are operating at a less than 1% margin, even with falling fuel prices. 

Fuel costs make up around a third of the total cost for airlines such as British Airways, but this percentage can go up to over 50% for the low-cost airlines.

‘At this stage the only immediate benefit will be for those who opt for a driving holiday – especially if they drive to Europe where the weak euro is also offering good savings on accommodation and food.’

These are some of the reasons why Travelzoo doesn’t expect immediate cuts in flight prices:

• No business wants to manage on the short term. Oil pricing is very volatile. Just because it is down right now, doesn't mean it won't spike again quickly.

• Airlines often hedge their oil purchasing. As such, the cost is fixed for a period of time. Adjusting fares based on market rates when their cost is fixed doesn't make sense. 

• Fuel is just one cost that goes into fare pricing. Airlines state that operating expenses have in fact risen by up to 3% over the past year.
• Just because fares haven't dropped doesn't mean passengers aren't getting additional value. Many airlines are re-investing their profits into providing product improvements. That could mean kitting out planes with Wi-Fi or offering perks for the various fare classes – including economy.
• There is no incentive for airlines to lower prices; demand remains high and planes continue to be packed.

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Picture Credit: "Oil Price Perormance Chart" courtesy http://moneyweek.com/prices-news-charts/oil/ ; "Jet fuel Vs Airline fares chart" http://blogs.wsj.com/economics/2015/01/16/why-a-big-swing-in-jet-fuel-costs-brings-small-change-to-airfares/

VisitEngland chairwoman criticizes bank holiday rail closures

CLOSING down parts of Britain’s road and railway networks over bank holidays and during major sporting events is costing the economy in lost tourism, says VisitEngland’s chairwoman Lady Penelope Cobham.

‘We are trying to run a first world tourism service for local and overseas visitors, and there are certainly a number of overseas visitors around over Christmas. But we are more than hampered by a third-world service over Christmas,’ she told the Daily Telegraph.

‘I understand completely the need to do major works, but when they say they are going to end working on a particular day, we have to be able to depend on that.’

Lady Cobham said rail operators had in recent months been willing to hear her concerns, ‘but we have a long way to go to really explain, embed into their thinking and forward planning, how this might be done better.’

Network Rail has come under fire for over-running improvement work on the East Coast main line, which left thousands of passengers stranded in London during the Christmas holiday.

The Highways Agency has said that 219 stretches of road had roadworks in place during the festive period, though it suspended or accelerated more than 150 projects to help keep traffic moving over Christmas.

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Tax change for Bahamas holidaymakers

THE Bahamas Ministry of Finance has repealed a ten percent hotel tax and replaced it with a 7.5 percent value added tax to be paid by hotel and self-catering villa guests.

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EU wastes millions on under-used regional airports, says report

MILLIONS of pounds of European Union (EU) money has been wasted on under-used and over-sized regional airports, according to a report by the European Court of Auditors. £200 million has been spent on infrastructure deemed ‘unnecessarily large’.

The report called it ‘poor value for money’, as it revealed that many of the aviation hubs were built in sparsely populated areas where there were not enough passengers to keep them afloat, The Times reported.

An airport in Kastoria, northern Greece, cost more than £6 million to run but brought in less than £140,000 between 2005 and 2012. 

Another in Córdoba, southern Spain, was predicted to cater for 179,000 passengers but handled less than 7,000 last year. 

Fewer than 10% of the 306,000 passengers expected at Crotone, in southern Italy, materialized. 

The EU has given Poland almost £80 million since 2007 to build three “ghost” airports in sparsely populated areas that that do not merit hubs.

The audit showed that only half of the 20 airports, which were given £530 million, deserved EU funding.

Jonathan Isaby, of the TaxPayers’ Alliance in the UK, said: ‘Even by the unique standards of EU spending, this is a shocking waste of hard-pressed taxpayers’ money.’


Go Holiday editor David Kernek comments: The EU wastes money? What’s new?

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How not to behave …. on planes

EXPEDIA.COM has published the results of its second Airplane Etiquette study, which asked 1,000 Americans to rank the most annoying on-board behaviours of fellow passengers.

Last year, Inattentive Parents topped the list of most aggravating airplane passengers.

This year, Rear Seat Kickers are flagged up as the most annoying passengers.

‘The study is a lighthearted reminder that few places require more attention to etiquette than the inside of an airplane,’ said John Morrey, vice president and general manager, Expedia.com. ‘You're in a tight space at 30,000 feet with hundreds of fellow travellers, so even the small things – helping your neighbour stow a bag or switching seats to put a mother next to her child – can make a huge difference.’

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Just to brighten up this holiday period....

The proper behavior all through the holiday season is to be drunk. 
This drunkenness culminates on New Year's Eve, when you get so drunk you kiss the person you're married to.

P. J. O'Rourke

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Travel hard-case .......

EVERY traveller has experienced the anxious wait at the baggage carousel, hoping that their luggage will emerge in one piece… if at all! 

Sadly, many have faced the horror of that carousel grinding to a halt with no sign of their luggage, or having it show up irreparably damaged.

A solution could be Trackase, described by its maker as an indestructible suitcase equipped with a GPRS tracking system. It’s available via a crowd-funding website, Kickstarter.

Its outer casing is made from a new type of polypropylene that can withstand far more than any reckless baggage handler can put it through. It also has a tracking device that allows the owner to pinpoint its location through an app compatible with Apple and android devices. It can also send a locating SMS text to less tech-equipped travellers.

‘Every aspect of travelling has changed dramatically in the past 30 years, except luggage,’ says Trackase creator Stephen Sacks. ‘As someone who travels constantly with items in my check-in baggage that are crucial for my work, my biggest concern is always whether my gear will arrive at the correct destination and whether it will be undamaged.

This became the inspiration for Trackase.’

Allowing for security procedures in the United States, the Trackase –in small, medium, and large sizes – features a locking mechanism that allows authorities to open the case legally if required without damaging it or having to break the owner’s padlocks.

For more information, go to www.kickstarter.com/projects/1094524528/trackase-virtually-indestructible-fully-trackable

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Pre-Xmas strike threat at UK airports

AIR travellers face the threat of pre-Christmas airport chaos if a two-day strike threatened by ground handlers goes ahead. 

Workers at Heathrow, Gatwick, and Manchester airports backed strike action in a ballot by 83% in a row with ground handling company Dnata over pay.

The Unite union warned that more than 460 members based mainly at Heathrow would walk out for two days from Tuesday if the company refuses to negotiate.

The union called on Dnata to engage in talks via the conciliation service ACAS to resolve the dispute over a ‘divisive’ pay offer. The row centres on a pay offer which the union claims will see supervisors get 4.5% – double the 2.25% of other staff.

Unite represents around a quarter of the 1,900 Dnata staff who carry out check-in, ground crew, and cargo duties at Heathrow, Gatwick, and Manchester airports.

Dnata’s main customers are Emirates, Virgin Atlantic, Cathay Pacific, Qatar Airways, Iran Air, Turkish Airlines, Saudi Arabian Airways, New Zealand Airways, Pakistan International Airlines, US Airways, Eva Air, Qantas, and Oman Airways.

Strike action at Heathrow would affect Terminals 2, 3 and 4. The walkout would not hit Terminal 5, where British Airways is based.

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Picture Credit: "England world cup winners" by BombDog via Wikimedia Commons

UK should step up coastal and rural tourism

THE British Hospitality Association (BHA) has welcomed the abolition of Air Passenger Duty (APD) for children, but says it sidesteps the real issue of stimulating economic growth through tourism across the UK, especially coastal and rural areas.

The association’s CEO, Ufi Ibrahim, says ‘The cut in APD is good news for the outbound tourism industry. However, the real issue is the government help that’s urgently needed by struggling coastal and rural regions of our country. Hospitality and tourism remains a vital part of the rural and coastal economy. 

Employment in hospitality accounted for about 15% of all jobs in the two Blackpool constituencies, more than 13% in Great Yarmouth and 19% in St. Ives, according to research by Oxford Economics.

‘The Chancellor of the Exchequer has missed an important opportunity to help thousands of small and medium-sized hospitality enterprises, upon which so many coastal and rural communities depend for their livelihoods. We had hoped to that the government would use the Coastal Communities Fund as part of a better co-ordinated move to regenerate rural and coastal communities with larger, more impactful, and inspiring schemes. Hospitality SMEs are the backbone of this nation, and we would have preferred to see an announcement on urgent reforms helping to encourage new investment into raising the competitiveness of coastal and rural destinations.’

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Get real, Australia tells its travellers

NO, you can’t get a loan to pay for a prostitute in Thailand. 

And seeking assistance to evict a polecat above a ceiling in the US is going to be futile. Australia is taking steps to curb the absurd requests that its travelling citizens have lodged with Australian embassies and consulates around the world.

Foreign minister Julie Bishop has announced new measures to underscore consular services as a last resort and to promote “a stronger culture of self-reliance and personal responsibility in the travelling public”.

These measures include a new policy of providing minimal consular services to Australians who willfully, repeatedly, or negligently get themselves into trouble. Charging for the consular help is also something the government is considering, she said.

“Our consular staff are not there to pay for the repairs to your jet ski; they’re not there to pay your hotel bill; they’re not there to lend you a laptop or to provide you with office space in the embassy for you to do your work,” Bishop said, listing actual requests that Australian embassies have refused.

At the embassy in Bangkok — Australia’s busiest — an Australian walked in with a prostitute and was refused a loan to pay for the services she had provided, said an official at the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. Such requests are common at that embassy, she said. Other locations that frequently get absurd requests include Los Angeles, Bali, Manila and Dubai, she said, adding that Australian embassies and high commissions in the US, Canada, and New Zealand were experiencing similar escalating expectations from its citizens.

Diplomats have fielded requests for an armoured car, help removing a polecat above the ceiling of a house, and intervention to prevent payment of a speeding fine.

The official said 20 per cent of emergency loans made to Australians overseas are never repaid.

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Picture Credit: "England world cup winners" by BombDog via Wikimedia Commons

You won’t be stranded, say airlines

THE International Air Transport Association (IATA) has announced a plan to help passengers affected by airline bankruptcy. 

A voluntary agreement on behalf of its members flying to, from, and within Europe will cover the repatriation of passengers unable to return home due to an airline ceasing operations as a result of financial failure.

‘I am delighted to say that passengers left stranded in the rare and unfortunate event of an airline bankruptcy will be offered ‘rescue fares’ from airlines to ensure they can get home,’ said Tony Tyler, IATA’s director general.

In the event of an airline bankruptcy, IATA member airlines flying to and from the European Union will make their best efforts to offer repatriation to passengers stranded away from home. These passengers will be given access to discounted transport to return home, subject to available capacity. 

The ‘rescue fares’ of a nominal amount will be available for purchase up to a maximum of two weeks after the event to anyone flying to and from or within Europe who does not already possess insurance covering this eventuality.

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Travel trade cautious on plan to devolve Scottish APD

THE travel industry has given a mixed reaction to the news that Scotland could gain control over some of its taxes, which would include Air Passenger Duty (APD).

Meanwhile, speculation is mounting that Chancellor George Osborne will cut the tax for children under 12 in his autumn financial statement on December 3. Campaigners claim abolishing the tax would help families who face a hike in the cost of flying during school holidays, while costing the Treasury just £50 million.

The Smith Commission – set up by the UK government to look at devolving powers to Scotland following the referendum earlier this year – has recommended that the Scottish Parliament should have full control of income tax rates and bands, and APD.

Both the Association of British Travel Agents and the Board of Airline Representatives (BAR UK) said the move could further put England, Wales, and Ulster at a competitive disadvantage if the Scottish government decides to scrap APD.

BAR UK chief executive Dale Keller said: ‘The Scottish government has already indicated it would slash or scrap the world’s highest air passenger tax to stimulate the local economy. The right time is now for the whole of the UK to share equally in the benefits a phasing out of APD would deliver.’

Mark Tanzer, CEO of ABTA said: ‘Any inconsistencies between what a passenger pays flying from Scotland compared to elsewhere in the UK could create an uncompetitive and damaging situation for travel businesses.’

Flybe welcomed the news and said scrapping APD would allow new routes to open up for Scotland.

Go Holiday editor David Kernek comments: ‘This is a kneejerk – though not unexpected – reaction from the travel trade. It appears to assume that holidaymakers living in England, Wales and Northern Ireland will book flights from Scottish airports in order to avoid APD. But in many cases, the time, hassle, and cost of getting to Glasgow, or Edinburgh, or Aberdeen would be equal to, or possibly outweigh, the saving.’

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Brits lag in Euro holiday league

BRITISH workers average two less annual days leave per year than their European neighbours according to a survey, the Daily Mail has reported.

The survey, carried out by on-line travel organization Expedia, took data from 24 countries and calculated that the average European worker gets 28 days annual leave. 

This compares with UK workers who, although entitled to an average of 26 days, typically take 25 days. 

This could be why three quarters of UK workers polled said that they felt ‘very or somewhat’ deprived of time off.

But when compared to the annual leave that workers in countries outside Europe are entitled to, the UK appears to be positively spoilt. American workers typically get only 14 days off. Thais get only 11 days holiday entitlement, and South Koreans workers take only seven of the 15 days to which they are entitled.

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Picture Credit: GoHoliday Blog - original source unknown.

Success for Ryanair, and a birthday for easyJet

ACCORDING to the World Travel Market’s 2014 industry report, Ryanair is arguably the most successful – and the most controversial – of all the no-frills airlines. CEO Michael O’Leary’s brash nature is replicated in Ryanair’s culture as the airline aims to strip out all unnecessary costs to increase profits and offer cheaper fares to customers.

But this culture has given the airline a poor reputation among customers, with barely a week going by without allegations of unsatisfactory treatment of its passengers.

O’Leary has been quoted saying that passengers who forget their boarding passes should be fined €60 (£47) for being ‘stupid’ and: ‘People say the customer is always right, but you know what, they’re not. Sometimes they are wrong and they need to be told so.’ He also said: ‘One thing we have looked at is maybe putting a coin slot on the toilet door, so that people might actually have to spend a pound to spend a penny.’

This reputation and the CEO’s comments about its customers began to have an impact on Ryanair’s financial results. It led to a change of heart by O’Leary, with the launch of its Always Getting Better campaign, which includes allocated seating, free second carry-on bags, and more user-friendly website.

*easyJet, the UK’s largest airline, celebrates its 19th birthday this year. Its inaugural flight in 1995 carried 120 passengers from London Luton to Glasgow, for £29 one-way. It’s now the UK’s largest airline by passenger numbers.

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Call that a camera!

DESPITE the Smartphone epidemic, the love affair with mobiles has seemingly taken a back seat. 

A survey by the online travel agent On the Beach found that almost a quarter of Brits are still choosing a “proper” camera as their holiday essential. 

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For sale: 40% of Eurostar

THE UK government has confirmed it is seeking buyers for its 40% stake in Eurostar to help boost the public finances.

It is hoping to attract bids of up to £300 million for the shareholding.

The Treasury controls its share of Eurostar through London & Continental Railways, the remaining nationalized part of the old British Rail. 

SNCF, France’s state-owned rail operator, holds 55% and the Belgian government owns the remaining 5%.

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First elephants! and now planes...........

I’m on the plane!

AIRLINE passengers will be able to use their mobile phones throughout flights after the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) ruled that they do not pose a risk to aircraft safety, the Daily Telegraph reports.

Currently, passengers must switch their mobile phones to “airplane mode” during take-off and landing, which switches off all transmitters and receivers, effectively making them nothing more than a handheld computer and unable to make phone calls, send text messages, or transmit data.

The EASA has now published guidance which allows airlines to change their own rules and allow mobile phones to be used “throughout the flight”. It will be up to airlines to decide whether or not to allow the use of phones on board, and each company will have to go through its own assessment process to ensure that their aircraft systems are not affected by the transmission signals.

Once airlines have completed this safety assessment they will have to install additional equipment in order to provide customers with a signal because mobile phone transmitters cannot be reached from the high cruising altitudes that airliners reach.

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Picture Credit: 'The elephant, the driver and the cellular phone' by Dinkum (Own work) [CC0], via Wikimedia Commons